Freight car brace



Oct. 16, 1956 A. McMAHON 2, ,70

FREIGHT CAR BRACE Filed Dec. 27, 1952 l /5 u! Q 7 7 5 Z;

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JNVENTOR. BERNARD A. MCMAHON ATTORNEYS United States Patent FREIGHT CAR BRACE Bernard A. McMahon, Barrington, R. 1.

Application December 27, 1952, Serial No. 328,210

3 Claims. (Cl. 105-669) This invention relates to the packing of a freight car.

Freight comprising individual packages which are stored one on top of the other in a car frequently require moving so as to dispose the vertical load over a greater area to prevent the load from tip'piii'g over as the car is move-d from one place to another when partially empty.

An object of this invention is to avoid the necessity of repacking the car when partially empty and prevent 'avertically stacked load from tipping over by a brace which may be easily positioned and easily removed from position.

Another object of the invention is to provide .a simple construction or brace having -two arms which may engage the opposite sides of the box car 'and be held in position by the pressure exerted endwise of the arms into the sides of the box car.

Another object of the invention is to provide a brace which may accommodate itself to box cars of widths which vary somewhat.

Another object of the invention is to provide "a lever through which the brace may be forced into position or removed from position by a mechanical leverage multiple.

Another object of the invention is to provide a lever which may easily be locked into position when the brace is moved to holding position in the box car.

Another object of the invent-ion is to provide a brace which will have spurs at its ends to hold in the sides of the box car "at any angle which it may assume.

Another object of the invention is to provide spurs which will not penetrate relatively thin inner walls of a box car.

Another object is to provide spurs which will align themselves with the walls of a box car over :an extended area.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists of certain novel features of construction as will be more fully described and particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a sectional view of a portion of a box car showing my improved brace in position in the car;

Figure 2 is a perspective View of the brace in unattached position looking at one side thereof;

Figure 3 is a similar view looking at the other side thereof;

Figure 4 is a iragmental elevation showing the spur at the end of one of the arms of the brace;

Figure 5 is a section on line 55 of Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a top plan view of the brace showing diagrammatically the opposite sides of :the box car with the brace in a position which it would assume just prior to being forced into final holding position.

In proceeding with this invention, I provide a pair of arms of wood or other suitable material about 2 by 4 inches in cross section which are hinged together at their ends. The arms are about equal in length. The free ends distant from the hinged connection are provided with pivoted spurs which will extend over a broad area and slightly extend into the sides of the box car so as to hold the ends of the brace against slipping. One of the arms is also provided with a lever which is rigid with the :arm and extends past the hinged connection to a point adjacent the end of the other arm when they are in end-to-end aligned position, and the spurs are so position-ed that the arms will stay aligned, but I also pro wide a bail to hold this lever against the other arm which is hinged to swing with relation to the lever when the lever is in contact therewith.

With reference to the drawings 10 designates generally -a freight car having opposite parallel woo-densides 11-11- and a top 12. The contents of the car comprise a plurality of packages 13 which are stacked in superimposed relation one on the other and which may tall from such superimposed stacked relation a partially filled car. A framework 14 is positioned vertically against the stack of packages 13. In order to hold this framework 14 which supplies a vertical wall "to retain the group of packages 13 against tipping over, I have provided a brace designated generally 15 and which is shown in perspective in Figures 2 and 3.

This brace 15 comprises a pair of arms 16 and 17 fare hinged together at 18 by a pair of hinged plates 19 and 20 having their hinge pin'tle 21 on an axis along the edge of one side of the arms 16 and 17 so that the arms may be swung from an aligned position to cause the iiaces of the arms in the plane of this pivotal axis to approach each other. The ends 22 and 23 of the arms 16 and 17 will abut on the other side of the hinge connection so that the arms will not swing about the hinge pivot in the other direction but will be limited to an aligned relationship. A lever 30 is rigidly fixed by means of rivets 31 to the arm 16 and extends substantially the length of the arm and in efieot along this rigidly connected portion becomes a second ply 16 of the arm 16. Spurs 24 are provided at the ends of each arm which comprise a pair of U-shaped members having arms 25 of generally triangular shape as shown in Figure 4 and a bridging portion 26 between the arms which consists essentially of a roughened outer surface generally in the nature of the surface of :a wood rasp having teeth 27 which will slightly impress themselves into a wooden surface when pressure is applied. The bridging member 26 is secured to 'the arms 25 by welding or other suitable attaching means so as to essentially form a rigid U- shaped shoe constituting my spur. The ends of the arms 17 and 16' are reduced as at 28 so that when the arms of the spurs lie along the opposite sides of the reduced portion 28, they will be substantially flush with the remaining surface of the arms. An opening 29 in each arm receives 'a pivot 33 theret'hrough comp-rising a bolt which extends through the reduced portion 28 and pivotally mounts the shoe or spur so that the end portion 26 is in spaced relation to the end of the reduced portion 28. The ends of the reduced portion are rounded as at 34 on an arc substantially from the axis of the pivot 33 so as to allow the shoe pivotal movement about its pivot 33 to align with the sides of the box car.

The lever 30, however, extends beyond the arm 16 in a direction away from the free end of the arm 16 and past the hinge 18 to a distance substantially the length of the arm 17. A bail 35 pivoted as at 36 to the arm 17 may secure the lever 30 against the arm 17 by swinging the bail over the end of the arm as shown in Figure 1 to lock the lever and arm 17 in face-to-face contact.

To position the brace in place, it will be noted that a slight angularity with reference to the horizontal will accommodate the brace to different widths of box cars, the widest being where the brace is horizontal while narrower box cars will be accommodated by angling the brace as shown in Figure 1. The two arms 16, 16 and 17 are placed so that the spurs 24 engage the OPP sides 11-11 of the box car with the portion 26 parallel to the wall as shown in Figure 6 with the lever 30 extending from the arm 16 past the arm 17. Then by pressure on the lever 30, the arm ply 16 and arm 17 are brought into end-to-end tandem alignment as shown in Figure 1, thus forcing the roughened surface or teeth 27 of the spurs into the wooden side walls 11 of the box car. A line 36 drawn from one spur 24 to the other will then pass on the same side of the hinge axis 21 as the lever and thus this pressure will cause the arms to be urged toward the frame 14 but the bail 32 may be swung over the end of the lever 30 to hold it in this contiguous relation with the arm 17.

The brace then cannot move because of its being forced into the sides of the box car, and the frame 14 is thus held from tipping over or permitting the packages to be disrupted from their stacked position by movement of the car. By this alignment the packages are securely held in position, and yet the brace may be easily positioned or detached from position as occasion may require.

This application is a continuation in part of my copending application Serial No. 250,109, filed October 6, 1951, now abandoned.

I claim: V

1. In combination with a box car having parallel wooden side walls, a brace having a pair of arms having 4 their adjacent ends hinged together at one edge and spurs at their free ends at the opposite edge, said arms being of a combined aligned length slightly greater than the distance between said parallel Walls so that when placed in angled relation to each other and then moved into alignment, the spurs will enter the parallel wooden side walls, and a lever rigid with one of the arms and extending therefrom in overlapping relation with the other arm to assist in moving the arms to and from alignment and to provide a stop, said arms when in alignment having said hinge axis on the other side of the line of compression between said spurs from that in which the axis is located when in released position.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein the spurs 'have flat roughened engaging surfaces and are pivoted to the ends of the device.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein the spurs are U-shaped and pivoted at the end of each arm on an axis at right angles to the axis of the hinge axis between the 20 arms.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

